Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 74469 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74469 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
I stare at the group. “So, they’re Michael’s friends.”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t look like Cole and Michael get along.” Brie gestures to a girl walking by our table. “That’s Keira Sheppard. She’s nice.”
A guy walks into the cafeteria, and Brie mumbles, “Nathaniel Black. His family practically owns the school, and he’s head of the swim team.” Then she gestures to another group of guys. “That’s the football team.”
Brie’s eyes scan over the rest of the students, and then they stop on me. “I’m glad you’re here. It sucked watching new people walk in at the beginning of the year, and they all just fit in. It made me wonder what I was doing wrong that I could never fit in anywhere.”
Damn, I want to hug her right now.
Instead, I grin. “Yeah, now you’re stuck with me.”
The most beautiful smile spreads over her face, and then she twirls some spaghetti around her fork. It reminds me of the pizza on my plate. We both take a couple of bites of our meals, then Brie points to the book I’m reading; Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aaron Ralston. “When I first saw you, I didn’t take you for a reader.” She licks her lips, then adds, “Then again, I’ve been wrong about everything where you’re concerned.”
“I just started it. It’s good.”
“Have you always loved reading?”
I shake my head. “It’s a new hobby.” I take another bite of my lunch and first swallow before I ask, “Do you have any hobbies?”
Brie points to her sketchpad that’s lying next to her plate. “Just drawing.”
“Right.” Wondering what else she’s drawn, I ask, “Mind if I look at the sketches?”
Brie hesitates, her eyes turning to the book. “Ah… okay.” She picks it up and moves it closer to me.
I shove the plate away and first wipe my hands clean on a napkin before opening the book. “A person wading through water,” I murmur. Brie nods, the corner of her mouth lifting nervously. I turn the page. “The screaming girl. I’ve seen this one.”
“You have?” She looks surprised.
“Yeah.” I lock eyes with her. “Is the picture you?”
Her gaze flits away before she nods.
Turning the page, the air is knocked from my lungs. The picture is different from the others.
“That’s me in five years,” Brie admits.
“Yeah?” I murmur, captivated by how she sees herself. Butterflies flutter from a girl that’s looking up.
Brie always had hope.
“It’s beautiful…” I turn my gaze back to Brie, “just like you.”
She grins shyly, then confesses, “That’s how I feel now that I’m living with you.”
Screw what everyone thinks. I wrap an arm around Brie’s shoulders and pull her into my side. Pressing a kiss to her temple, I murmur, “It makes me happy hearing that.”
I don’t let go of her as I turn the page, but the next one is blank. “What are you going to draw next?”
“I don’t know.” She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth as she thinks about it. “Maybe something abstract. I need to have more for a portfolio if I want to apply to art school.”
“You still have time,” I remind her.
She glances up at me and then says, “I can always draw you.”
I let out a chuckle. “Go for it. I’d like to see what you come up with.”
Brie takes another bite of her food, then pushes the plate to the side, asking, “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
She rests an elbow on the table and leans her cheek against her palm. I do the same, and it brings our faces close together, but I don’t pull back.
“Why did you give me those quotes?”
Sitting so near to her, I can see a dark blue ring around the lighter blue of the iris.
Hypnotizing eyes, for sure.
My voice is low as I answer, “Seeing Michael bully you made me so damn angry. I wanted you to fight back.”
“You haven’t given me any since the text message,” she whispers.
It feels as if we’re in our own little bubble. I like it.
“I got the impression they bothered you.” She’s about to say something, but I quickly add, “I understand why, though. I was hard on you, and I’m sorry. I didn’t know how bad things were and got frustrated because –” My words cut off when I think of Brady, and there’s a familiar pang of sorrow.
“Because?”
“You reminded me of my brother, Brady.”
Realization flits over her face. “I’m sorry.”
I shake my head and let out a soft chuckle, “It turns out you’re much stronger than I gave you credit for.”
She lets out a huff. “I’m not strong at all.”
I wish Brie could see herself through my eyes. She’d know how special she is.
“You are. The shit you had to survive…” I shake my head, and lifting my other hand, I wrap my fingers around the back of her neck.